Wild Life Pictures

Donna got me a Trail Camera for my birthday last month. I've been wanting one for several years so I could, hopefully, take pictures of the deer on the property where I hunt. They're not cheap, and I'm techno-ignorant, so I wasn't in a hurry to learn how to use one. But, now I have one, I've read the instruction book twice, and, as it suggested, I put the camera out on one of the beams of my porch. I just knew I'd capture some great pictures of wild game like deer, rabbits, skunks, and raccoons. Maybe even some ducks and geese who visit our back yard regularly. I left it out there for a couple of days and brought the SD card in this morning to view ALL THE WILD LIFE that got it's picture taken. I had lots of animal free pictures of the pond, and the only living creatures that I got pictures of were some kids who visited the pond one evening. And then there was the really wild creature below...

I guess you could call this a special species of deer. One where an "a" replaces the second "e".

At least it works! And no, I haven't set the time and date on it yet.

Keep The Change!

Church is changing. Certainly that is not a news flash to anyone. The church, in spite of the many who fear change and fight it with unmatched enthusiasm, has always changed and will always change. With all our spouting about unchangeable truths, historic Restoration, and imitating New Testament patterns, the church is people and people change. It is usually incremental and only discernible over a long period of time, but traditions change, expectations change, styles and preferences change, and priorities change. The church has always fought to keep the world out, but has still found itself compromising, blending, imitating, and evaluating itself a lot more by worldly standards then we'd ever admit.
We are impacted by the cultural values that every member lives, works, and plays in. Our culture, or our society, is materialistic. Most churches are made up of middle class affluent people who work long hours, feel insecure about their jobs and the future, want the nicer things in life for themselves and their families, and judge everything they spend money and time on by "Is it worth it" and "what will it do for me." We are consumers, comfort seekers, and committed to doing more of both.
Has that impacted, or brought about change in the church? You bet your debit card it does. When passions shift from seeking God and building loving relationships in His family, to seeking "the good life", the church becomes a burden, or a club, or sometimes just a bad memory.
There is a core group of dedicated church family members in every congregation, and praise God for each one. However, one doesn't need to be a social researcher to observe that fewer and fewer people feel committed to the family, feel responsible to participate and support family events, or feel the need to honor and improve their financial commitment to the family.
There has been a loss of passion for the church in the lives of many people. I guess it would be more accurate to say there has been a shift in passion from church family to worldly family - having the things the world says we all deserve and will make us happy. And that is nothing new. Satan has been using that line for centuries.
Change is coming - again. People are starting to see that money, things, and financial success is like riding a Jello horse. People are rediscovering that life is not about what you love, but who you love, and who loves you back. We'll be here, and we'll be remembering Paul's command, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love," and Peter's command, "Love one another deeply from the heart." That is what the church is here to do. The church is changing. Have I said that?

Fearless Trailer

Below is a link to the trailer Joe Woolbright and I did for Fearless: The Story of Esther DVD. I needed a promo to encourage our members to help us deliver DVD's to the nearly six hundred families who registered to receive one. Joe has done all the video work for all our plays and he's done a super job. This years is the best one. All I did was the voice over, and since I was only two weeks from my lastest voice shot, I didn't have the deep voice I wanted for doing the trailer, but it came out okay. Click on the link, turn your volume up, and enjoy. It helps if you saw the play, but it's still entertaining if you haven't.

http://www.woolbrightvideo.com/images/stories/videos/EstherTrailerWeb.wmv

Half-a-thousand

Wow! I hadn't noticed it until I logged on to do this blog, but this is blog #500 for me. That's a lot of stuff! Hopefully there were a few things over that last four years that were worth reading, or maybe pictures worth seeing. At any rate, thanks to all who have clicked in regularly or even occasionally - or rarely. Yes, I have family and friends who don't count the minutes waiting for words of inspiration from me. I've tried not to use my blog as a test of friendship or love, but I have been surprised many times to find out who checks it out and who ignores it. Oh well, we must not predetermine how people will express their affections. It's okay with me if they choose to remain in pits of darkness and ignorance.

I suppose for blog #500 I should say something profound and memorable. Something like "How on earth can people make an out-of-control airline attendant jerk into a folk hero!" Actually, I'm saving that one as an illustration for this Sunday's sermon. Oddly enough, we just studied anger/wrath in last Sunday night's series of The Seven Deadly Sins. If he'd only been a jerk a week earlier...maybe he was.

Back to profound and memorable. Here are a couple of things that I wrote down to think about this past week. I've been thinking about some things for a leadership seminar I'm doing in a few weeks, so these were some conclusions I reached.

1. The fatal flaw of preaching is believing that sermons can bring about giant changes. Spiritual growth comes in baby steps, and preaching is only a support system.

2. The fatal flaw of church leadership is the unspoken belief in the preeminence of decision making. It is the belief that it will solve all the problems, discover the magic bullet for church growth, and offset the lack of one on one mentoring that people really need.

And that - is half a thousand blogs.

"I Want It All!"

When the young rich guy asked Jesus about inheriting eternal life, in Mark 10, he surely wasn't expecting anyone to question his financial status. Yet, his wealth was the one thing in his life that was a barrier to what he claimed he wanted most - eternal life. I asked the question Sunday, "What's wrong with wealth?" and probably surprised some folks with the short answer of "nothing is wrong with wealth." It's just a tool, a blessing, a means to an end. It can accomplish incredibly wonderful things or it can be an obsession that twists life and steals eternity. The saddest thing about wealth is that we, like the young rich guy in Mark 10, define ourselves by our wealth, rather than our relationship with God. In fact, it's another illustration of a tool becoming an idol, like so many other things God has given us to help us live and grow.
Wealth is a weird thing when you think about it. First, it's relative. We never think of ourselves as wealthy because it is what those who have MORE THAN US are. And, in spite of how wealthy we really may be, we just know that happiness and contentment can only be achieved when we have MORE. Amazingly enough, we just know that we would be good stewards of MORE WEALTH and not abuse it, blow it, or hoard it, like so many others seem to do. And that is important for our theology of interpreting what Jesus said when he pointed out that it's hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God. He didn't say impossible, but he did do that camel through the eye of a needle thing to illustrate his point. He also made it clear that God makes things possible. So - our logic about increased wealth just has include our belief that we would be (or are) the exception to the rule. In other words, God would be so pleased with how we used the wealth he gave us that he would save us in spite of our being rich.
Maybe the honest thing to do is to ask ourselves some questions about what kind of servants we have been with what he has already given to us. Why would we possibly think that God would be interested in giving more to servants who haven't been faithful with the blessings already given. There is that parable about The Talents - remember? Would you say you've been like the five and two talent guys, or maybe more like the one talent guy?
The good news is that the Master hasn't returned yet! So - what will we do with the wealth we have?

Fletch Lives

No, I'm not doing a commercial for NAP products, though I've used their broad heads for a lot of years. What you see in the above picture is a relatively new product that allows you to put new fletching on your arrows in seconds, when in the past, it has taken hours. It's amazing and it's a top quality product. Let me show it to you and close with a few comments.
As you can see above, the new "shrink tube" fletching simply slips over your arrow...

...then you place it into a pot of boiling water for just ten seconds, and watch them shrink down to a tight fit.

Let them cool and dry for a few seconds, and da-da-da-da, you have a newly fletched arrow that flies great and is tough as nails. Wow - repairing torn arrow fletching used to take a whole lot longer and was a lot more labor intensive.

Isn't that a good looking arrow? By the way, I've been using this arrow as a practice arrow for about five years now. Maybe I'll get five more - especially since I can put new fletching on them so quick and easy.

I just love it when someone figures out a way to do things better. When I began bow hunting in 1979, there were no archery shops around, I had no coaching, and the only camo clothing I could find was used military clothing a friend at church got for me. Now, bow hunting is big business, with bows that cost more than guns, tech toys that make it easier to do everything, and more choices of camo than you could wear in a life time. I love it. Every time I hear someone moaning about "the good old days" I think back to my first five years of bow hunting and learning by trial and error what not to do, and having equipment that did more to discourage new hunters than it do to appeal to them.
I'm just saying that I'm thankful to be here today, and enjoy anything and everything that makes life more enjoyable. "The good old days" are for memories, not for reliving. The "here and now" is exciting and fun, and I plan to not waste any of it looking back or waiting for what's to come. Every day is a gift from God to be appreciated and used to glorify Him.

I'm thankful I've got a pot to fletch in. Say that to a stranger and see what they say!

The Preaching Paradox

Sunday morning I was sitting at my desk studying the lesson I was going to present that morning, and I did my usual "honesty check" to make sure I was trying to make a difference and not just filling a time slot. Was I being true to the context of the scripture I was covering? Was I helping people understand and know Jesus a little better, especially since it was His Gospel I was preaching? And, as my little 3M sicker on my computer reminds me, what was the bottom line of my lesson? What's the point? And that other soul searching sermon spotlight, "SO WHAT?" Will it make a difference to the people who will be hearing it?
In the midst of all this reflecting, a profound thought came into focus that I want to share - especially with all my preaching buddies and relatives. Here it is:
The paradox of preaching is that we are trying to lead people to a place we've never been, and show them how to have a deep relationship with God that we are still building.
For me, that is a very humbling thought. We're not the know-it-all's or the "Spiritual Answer Man" or even an example of success. Like any child of God, we are in the process of becoming what God wants us to be. We are on the same journey. The difference is, as preachers, they (our church family) are on OUR journey whether they want to be or not, because our journey is reflected in our preaching. We are not the preachers we use to be - praise the Lord! As we've grown spiritually, our preaching changes so we can help others who are on the same journey. As I look back on over thirty-five years of preaching, all I can say is, "Thank you God for your grace."

Family Pictures

During our quick trip to Searcy for the Curtis family reunion, we got to visit with nephew Zach at the house on the lake where he and his wife Cass live. Here, uncle Kevin is giving some of our grand children a ride on the hand car, which is part of the train that circles the lake. Neat place.

That evening just about the whole family came to dinner at Donna's mom's place. It was a little crowded, but we had a great time. Lot's of great food and great fellowship. Afterwords, everyone packed the small living room to do some singing. Since I was unable to contribute, I can truthfully say it was incredible singing.

As you can see, the next generation is coming along just fine. Some of these little ones actually helped with the singing of some of the songs.

We were glad that our "family time" got extended as Deborah and Elizabeth came back to Florissant with us to spend a couple days scrap-booking with their mom. It's been a fun few days, and a huge "at-a-boy" has to go out to my sons-in-law Chad and Pat for being mom & dad for a few days so the girls could have some fun time. I was around to provide security - and the ride to Fritz's, Las Fuentes, etc. etc..

Reunion

I have to say, the word "reunion" means a lot more to me as a child of God than it use to. There are a lot of words and ideas that are applied to heaven that I believe are simply wishful thinking, but I don't think the idea of reunion is one of them. Jesus even talked about sitting down to dinner with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in heaven, so not only are we talking reunion, but a pot-luck provided by God! How awesome is that.
Well, I've said that to simple say that we are at the Curtis family reunion in Searcy, AR right now. Hopefully, I can share a couple of picture when I have time on Sunday or Monday. It's fun to see everyone, but it's also the first family reunion without Donna's dad being here. So, I guess we'll just have to wait for the eternal one, with God, to see everyone. See ya there, if not sooner.

Limiting God?

Does God limit himself? I mean, the Bible is clear, he knows everything and he's everywhere, but should we add the caveat, if he chooses? It seems to me that God chooses to limit what he can know in order to have an honest interaction with his creation, who are clearly limited by space and time. For example, when God was talking with Abraham about his plans to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, did he know ahead of time that he'd let Abraham talk him into changing his plans multiple times - as in from fifty to just ten righteous people? If he did, wasn't he leading Abraham on to let him keep offering up new numbers? I don't know. It just seems to me that there are times when God waits to hear from us, hopes we'll change our minds about something, or even changes his mind in response to a prayer request, all of which doesn't make as much sense if God already knows everything and has everything already worked out?
Again, we never were meant to understand everything about God whose ways are much greater and higher than we can comprehend, but still, just because he can know everything and can be everywhere, does that mean he does it? For instance, God knows our every sin, whether they're secret and hidden from others, or out in the open for all to see. He is also omnipresent, but does that mean he is there in the midst of sins darkness and ungodliness? Does he have to be there to know about it? I don't know. I do know that he doesn't need to be informed about anything and he doesn't want to be part of anything that is unholy and unrighteous.
What am I getting at? Something that many of us still don't get! Our God is relationship driven. Was he in the garden when Adam and Eve made the wrong choice? Remember, it wasn't just choosing good over evil, it was choosing self over their relationship with God. Why was he looking for them in the garden afterwards, and why was he asking them so many questions when he knows everything? Does he limit himself because of his desire for a relationship with us? Seeking a relationship with God changes the way he is present! James said, "Come near to God and he will come near to you." Doesn't that mean that God limits himself until we choose to want him closer? "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." That's pretty close contact! How amazing is it that our God is waiting for us to invite him to come closer? Maybe the real question for us isn't about God limiting himself, but how are we limiting God - who loves us and wants to be close to us!

Bathroom Report

Okay, this may just be for family, but I wanted to show off our latest DIY project at the Root house. This is the first time we've owned an older house, so we've been needing to update a lot of things, especially the bathrooms and kitchen. We started on the downstairs bathroom, but had new toilets put in all three bathrooms. Hey, it's the little things in life that mean the most! The picture below is the "BEFORE" sort of, after some demo. Man it's nice to get that old light & man-made fixture out. Here is the "AFTER". The biggest part of the project, not counting the Lowe's plumber putting in the toilet and new vanity top, was moving the electrical wire from the far left of the wall to a new box were the new light fixture would go. Lot's of wall board removal and fixing, and sanding and sanding, and I still missed some spots that I couldn't see until I got the new light up, but by then I'd done all the painting. Still, I'm happy with it.

I threw this picture in so you could see the new light fixture better.

Just a little FYI about our DIY. Please no LOL.

I Wish...

My wish list changes with age. I guess that's to be expected since our priorities constantly change with age. I don't waste time dreaming and wishing for a new car or a new house, and don't wish I could travel and see the world, though an occasional cruise or bow hunting trip is nice. I guess part of aging is learning to enjoy the simple things of life, which I do, and when I find myself saying "I wish" it's usually dealing with some church related concern, problem, or hope. And, I do find myself wishing we could see our family more often, but that might be true even if they lived closer than Nashville, Dallas, and New York.
What do you find yourself wishing for? What are some of the weird and quirky things that you find yourself saying, "Man, I wish..."? Here are a FEW of mine.
* I wish I could stop eating when I was full instead of continuing just because it tasted good.
* I wish I didn't allow myself to get uptight about time - especially on Sunday morning.
* I wish I could totally forget ALL my stupid mistakes from the past.
* I wish I'd go ahead and take painting lessons, golf lessons, and yes, dancing lessons.
* I'm better at it than ever before in my life, but I wish I was more uninhibited.
* I wish I had better discipline about writing.
* I wish we could stop calling ourselves "church" and call ourselves the family of God or the Body of Christ. Church has been institutionalized too much for it to be what it was in the NT.
* I wish everyone in our family here at Florissant understood the preeminence of loving one another and that "church" exists to help make that happen.
* I wish that folks would understand that wanting more giving, more outreach, more involvement, and more dedication can only happen with MORE passion for Jesus.
* I wish our government was made up of true servants and not people driven by partisan politics.
* I wish Fritz's Turtle Concretes were part of the Recommended Daily Allowance for fifty-somethings.
* I wish I wasn't paranoid about being betrayed by church leaders who are friends. I don't want to be cynical or fearful about anything, but "burn me once..." or more, leaves scars. I do trust Jesus completely.
* I wish broccoli always had a cheese sauce on it.
* I wish I'd remember to thank God more for the little things each day that make like wonderful.
* I wish I didn't have bags under my eyes, had more hair on my head, and less spots and growths on my skin, but hey, the important things still work - Praise the Lord!

Poor Theology?

I mentioned a couple of blogs ago about the importance of having a God who never gets tired of hearing us ask "Why" when it's part of our pursuit of knowing Him better. When you have been blessed to have had some incredible teachers through the years, those incredible teachers sometimes become so idolized that they become the personification of truth. That's a problem that students must work through not the teacher. Any teacher worth their salt wants to point their listeners in the right direction, motive them to further study, and create a seeking mindset that will sick with the student through their life. A some point, each of us must discover God's will, the truth, for ourselves or it will continue to be a borrowed theology rather than an owned theology.
For example, several of us were challenged the other day about which day of the week the Lord's Supper is supposed to be taken. I was taught that our practice of Sunday only communion was the only biblically correct view that any doctrinally correct Christian could possibly have. After all, we've always done it that way, the Church Fathers said it was done that way, and the early church, according to Acts 20:7, came together on the first day of the week to break bread. Done deal! Biblical example = biblical command = restoration of NT practices.
Why would anyone dare question it? It's poor theology, that's why. Acts 20:7 says they broke bread, and it's our tradition (and reverse interpretation - imposing what we believe on the Bible) that declares this verse to be talking about the Lord's Supper. Any really good commentary will say that "It's traditionally believed that this was the communion," but NO ONE knows that for sure. Jesus gave it to us on Thursday night and Paul reminds us of that in 1 Corinthians 11 without pausing for heart beat to point out, "But now we do it on Sunday." Not only that, the Acts 20 story is taking place on Saturday evening, when Sunday day began at 6 P.M.. As far as the Church Fathers go, what Christians did in the second and third century is a long way from what happened in the first half of the first century. Do you know how long it takes for a church practice to become a tradition and thus law? I've always said it takes about three weeks of doing it the same way without change.
There is no "church ordinance" example in Acts 20:7. When you start out looking for ceremonial acts of worship that we assume must be part of a "formal worship time," we find them. Unfortunately, we got that presupposition from Catholicism not Restorationism.
Jesus took the most common elements from every meal of that day, and said, use these tools to remember my physical body given for you and the Body you have become as my church, and "whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." It was a simple meal to be used as a simple tool to help the followers of Jesus remember who they live for - anytime they choose to use it. In the New Testament it was always part of a common meal and according to Acts 2, they were doing that daily.

Back Home

We are back from being gone four days to a retreat at Paris Landing State Park in TN. It is one of the true highlights of each year for us as we get to see lots of old friends and have several days of spiritual feasting. The picture above is one I took Wednesday evening as a group from Alabama called the Southside Singers performed for our retreat group. They were great and I'm sure they haven't done many programs for a group as ready to "rock out" as our group was. We really enjoyed their singing.
While we had a wonderful retreat, it's good to be back home and we're looking forward to sleeping in our own bed. And, of course, we managed to hit our favorite Mexican restaurant in Florissant for lunch. It helps when you leave TN at 6 A.M. and don't stop. Isn't it amazing how it's the little things in life that you enjoy the most? Salsa makes my wife happy, and when she's happy...

Why?

This little baby bunny kept me quite entertained this morning as I sat on our porch swing cooling down from our morning hike. It was so young it didn't know to run, and it it just continued to feed and to preen itself about ten feet away from me. God's creation is amazing. Even looking at that cute little bunny, I found myself asking God why he made that little creature the way he did. That made me think of how many questions one of my grand children might ask if they were sitting beside me. I could hear all the "why's" coming faster than any parent or grandparent could answer. It made me think of a statement I made in my lesson yesterday morning. "We have a Father who never gets tired of us asking why." That is especially true if our "why" is coming from a heart that is seeking to know him better. It has been a truck load of "why's" that has driven me to discover things about God, His Word, and His plan that I never had seen in all the past years of my spiritual journey. Enough "why's" will send you all the way back to "In the beginning" and even beyond that, because the Bible tells us that God "planned" before the creation of the world, to do whatever it took to allow us a chance at an eternal relationship with Him. Talk about amazing? I'm thankful for a Father who wants me to ask "why".

Selective Forgiveness?

Did you ever notice that we tend to think of forgiveness in terms of what someone has personally done to us. Just mention the word "forgiveness" and your mind automatically goes to the people in your past who hurt you, offended you, or in some way did something that caused you to make a conscious decision to forgive them. Forgiveness isn't a option if your goal is to please God. He made it clear that we only get it if we give it. But, it's much more than a chosen response to personal injury by others. Forgiveness must be an attitude, a spirit, an inseparable part of our character - if we truly want to be like Jesus.
Maybe the key is learning to be a forgiving person as a natural response to anyone who - well, just ticks you off, gets your goat, and/or daily causes you grief and stress. Here are some people I need to forgive.
* People who don't use their turning signals
* People who walk through the mall talking loudly to the box stuck in their ear
* Folks who DON'T turn off their cell phones at the movies
* Christians who say un-Christ-like things about my President (past or present)
* Crazy people who text and drive
* Those who misuse scripture to justify their traditions or their preferences
* Friends who don't tell you there's a problem
* Drivers who risk lives to get one car length ahead
* Smokers who make my clothes stink when I leave the restaurant
* Today? Colorado Rockies players who hit home runs in the ninth inning

Transfiguration?

What was with that whole "Transfiguration" thing in Mark 9? I've always wondered about that. It just seemed so strange and unrelated to what was happening in the narrative of Jesus, but, hey, it's got to be important or God wouldn't have included it - right? It really is an amazing part of the Gospel story. Even with all the miracles, teaching, and personal time together, the apostles had a lot of things they were unsure about. They didn't exactly shout out in unison that "You are the Christ" when Jesus asked them "Who do you say I am". They were totally disconnected with his prophetic words about his suffering, his death, and his resurrection. Remember? Peter even rebuked him for saying such discouraging and "un-leadership-like" things.
I suggested Sunday that the Transfiguration of Jesus was a "Let me show you something" event for Peter, James, and John. Jesus was glorified, affirmed by Moses and Elijah - the symbols of the Law and the Prophets, and he was confirmed by God Himself, who professed Jesus as His Son and the only One they need to listen to. In fact, the whole event is pretty well summed up by the words of God: "Listen to Him!"
The three apostles were scarred to death! Peter wanted to build ceremonial shelters for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, but the voice of God made it clear that what He wanted was for them to pay very close attention to His Son.
I wonder, is there a lesson there for us? Are we sometimes tempted to build ceremonial shelters when what we really need to do is just listen to Jesus? I'm not talking about church building, but about missing the point. What ever we do, as individual children of God or together as the Body of Christ, must be about Jesus. We must be about the business of learning more about Him and becoming more like Him, either of which are helping us draw closer to Him.
Forget the shelter building and the control of fear, and as God said, "Listen to Him!"

Cardinal's Game

We decided Thursday that it was past due time for us to take in a Cardinals game. We've only been to one since they opened the new stadium. One big incentive was having a nice cool evening ahead. So I got us some good seats just past the first base line. Donna took these pictures, and we both agree that we need to do it again.

During pre-game warm ups, several of the Cards were fairly close to us on the field. Here's "The Man" doing some short jogs out on the grass.

This, of course, is the real star of the game. Fred Bird did a little entertaining just in front of our seats. We were on the seventh row.

This is a great picture Donna took just as Albert hit his home run, the only real highlight for the Cards all night. Unfortunately, they lost.

Here is Albert just after crossing the home plate after his HR. Fun night! Come and visit us and we'll go see a game together.

Camp Jesus?

I've always said that one of my goals in preaching is to cause people to think. Thinking about a lesson after hearing it, is what gives it legs - makes it last longer than the minutes it took to share it. Sometimes, even when I'm working on the next lesson, something from the previous lesson keeps bouncing around in my mind like a golf ball on concrete. Last Sunday I made this point in my introduction. "At some point we must stop being campers for Christ and start being soldiers of the King." I was talking about Jesus preparing his apostles for his approaching arrest and death, and why he was challenging them to profess who they thought he was. They had been with him for a long time, enjoyed his mentoring, and been amazed at his miracles, but they hadn't truly been called on to do much or risk much. I described them as having been to Camp Jesus, and now it was time to move on to the next step of their spiritual journey.
A faith that never causes discomfort, sacrifice, or loyal obedience is a faith that is still at Camp Jesus. Soldiers must learn to be uncomfortable, do without, and carry out the mission regardless of the cost.
What has your church experience been like so far? Most of us would have to say that we've been enjoying Camp Jesus for a long time. Every time we have discussions about how to keep everyone happy with our assemblies, or how how to make it more comfortable for members to attend at times that work better for them, I wonder - how long will camp be in session? When do we dare start being soldiers of the King? When do we start expecting it of ourselves and members?
Just something to think about - so I'm not the only one thinking about it.

Smelling Sand & Sea?

Okay, so we don't have any self-control. We decided we couldn't wait two years before we took another BIG vacation. It's been our plan since the mid 90's to take a good vacation every two years (to give us time to save or pay it off), but the combination of REALLY enjoying that two week vacation this past year in a warm climate in the dead of winter, and the lowering of prices to attract people like us, and well, we just want to do it. We doing a 14 Caribean cruise that leave January 31 and stops at some great places - all warm. Doesn't sound so exciting in the Summer, but come January, it will sound sooooo good. We've got a couple of friends going with us, and we've also decided that who you're with is more important than where you go. So if you'd like to go with us - come on! Check it out on Princess.com and click on the search cruises tab. Click on Caribean, 8-15 day, January 2011. You'll find it. There's only one doing that on Jan. 31st. We fully expect them to come out with some better deals on this cruise as it gets closer to it, and we'll simply have them do what's called a "re-fare" where they re-book you at the lower fare even if you're already booked - and we are. Contact me if you have any questions.

Up Tight? Out of Sight!

In a day and time when we spend so much effort on feeling safe and secure, it may be difficult to know what are fears really are. Besides, when it comes to fear, we tend to think of big, major, life-threatening possibilities rather than the deep fears we carry in our hearts 24/7. When you think about it, however, it's really quite easy to determine what our fears are. All you have to do is think about what causes you stress in life. Stress comes from what we fear whether real or imagined. What makes you anxious or what do you worry about? Things you fear. And very few of those fears involve life-threatening monsters, bad guys, or catastrophic events. It's usually things that have to do with our doubts, our weaknesses, our insecurities, and our imaginations. What causes most of us stress in life is the fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of criticism, fear of disappointing others, fear of being judged, and the fear of not being respected, appreciated, and loved by others.
Do you notice a theme in these fears? Others. We have such a strong drive to receive the affirmation of others that we fill our life with stress trying to get it. The stress of trying to look right, talk right, act right, and just BE RIGHT, so others will like us, admire us, and affirm that we are "worthy" of their praise - robs us of the peace and contentment God wants us to have. Oh - we can't completely avoid it, but at some point, "others" have to take a back seat to God. And the amazing thing is, when we please him, what others think about us isn't so important any more, and when that happens, all of a sudden a great deal of life's stress vanishes and we begin to enjoy "the peace that passes understanding" (that means "others" don't get it).
So, is it safe to say that if we want a good evaluation of where we are in our journey to a deeper relationship with God, we only need to look at our level of stress to see how we're doing? Hey, if "love casts out fear," doesn't that mean it also casts out stress too? Didn't Jesus say something about not fearing anyone in this world, but fearing the One who can "destroy both body and the soul"?
My stress is defined by my fears, but my only fear should be that I disappoint my Father. When that becomes our only fear, what do you think will happen to the stress of life?

Inspired By God?

Twenty-five years ago, if I had been asked, "Does God inspire people today?", I would have been alarmed that anyone would dare to ask such a question. It would have violated all my rational, theological, and fundamentalist training, and would have given me visions of Pentecostalism, spiritualism, and, at the very least, liberalism. I would have immediately thought about all the verses I could quote about being "thoroughly furnished" and "given all things" and "rightly dividing the Word of truth." All of which have nothing to do with the question. Inspiration does not mean new revelations, nor does it threaten existing revelation, or mean it's in anyway inadequate or incomplete.
Why do so many people find it so hard to believe that God can put something into your heart? Yes, we all know the horror stories about "crazy people" who think God was talking to them, calling on them to do something terrible. Those are extreme cases involving psychologically impaired people. Does that mean God doesn't put thoughts into our hearts? We have no problem (usually) believing that Satan can. He's the Tempter! What good is a Tempter who can't even get you to think about what he's tempting you with? Is God limited simply because He has given us His message about His plan for redeeming man? Should our fear of things unknown, things like the Holy Spirit, prevent us from hearing something God might put into our hearts? Where do "good thoughts" come from? Isn't being "moved with compassion" a Christ-like quality that God fosters, encourages, and helps with? When that pull hits your heart telling you that you ought to do something, is that just your conscience speaking or is it God speaking through your conscience? What does He mean when He tells us "draw near to God and He will draw near to you"? If prayer is communication with God, has He already said all He's going to say?
I don't have to understand how it all works, but God putting godly ideas into our heart - ideas that are also proclaimed in His written Word - is totally consistent with His nature and His Word. How can we have "the mind of Christ" and not be tuned into God? There is nothing in the Bible that says that God can't inspire or guide us through our thinking, our talking, and our writing. He's not going to inspire anyone to think, say, or write anything that contradicts what He's inspired others with in the past, but that doesn't mean He's stopped doing it!
Did Paul know he was writing under the inspiration of God? His reference to "scripture" to Timothy is talking about the Old Testament. Did he know that He was writing something that would become "God's Word" for all time? I think the answer is "no" both times, but it doesn't change our believe that God was inspiring him.
I love what Paul said to the Corinthians in his second letter. He said, "I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you." (8:16) I don't believe he was talking about a special miraculous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Titus beyond what every child of God has. (Acts 2:38)
Just maybe, if we'd give God a little credit for the godly thoughts we have, we might be a little more motivated to follow through on those thoughts instead of seeing them as merely "one option".
Is it possible that He has directly and personally answered our prayers, but we didn't recognized that it was Him speaking?
Wow! Now why did I write this?

Cast Picture

This is the official cast & crew photo for Fearless: The Story of Esther. Ben Lanterman has taken pictures for us every year and he does a super job. He brought the DVD of pictures he's taken to my office last week and there are over 800 pictures on the two disks. He really is very professional and does some awesome work. The hard part is trying to decide which pictures to use for our official picture collage in the hallway of the church building. I can only put 10 or twelve in it. Oh, just an FYI, only one person was missing for the cast picture, so I asked Ben if he could Photo Shop that person into the cast picture. He did. Can you figure out who it is?

My next blog (I think) will deal with the question: Does God inspire people today? What do you think? I'll tell you what I think tomorrow - or the next day at the latest.

Lesson From The Porch

This is the view from where I sit on our porch each morning as I cool down from our walking. No, this isn't about the porch. If you look real close, in the middle, you'll see what keeps me entertained most of the time when I sit out there. I always love watching one of our visiting cranes (Blue Heron), but lately I've been enjoying watching the battle of the floating tire.

You can't see much of it, but you can see the turtles resting on it. A couple months ago, this tire suddenly appeared in our pond. Well, after all, it really is just a holding tank for rain run off. I didn't like looking at it and thought about rigging up a grappling hook to snag it and pull it out. The turtles love it - I guess. Every minute of the day there is a constant positioning battle going on as turtles crawl up on to the tire, and one another, to find a place to rest and get some rays. I mean turtles of all sizes, colors, and shapes. I never knew we had so many in the pond. They load up the tiny space above water, someone moves, and splash - they're all in the water and it starts again. What makes it even more interesting is that the tire is not anchored. It obviously has some muck and mud in the base of it, but if the turtles get it overloaded or out of balance - it rotates and dumps 'em all. Then they start all over again.

I caught myself in mid-laugh this morning as it dawned on me how much those turtles reminded me of mankind's constant attempt to seek preeminence, comfort, and success in a world that will, at some point, dump them like the turtles in my pond. Lessons? Climbing over one another? Repeating the same mistake over and over? Knocking everyone else off to open the way up for yourself? Following others to achieve success and ending up in the drink? Ignoring the need for balance in life? And, well, you get the picture.

They are turtles who only follow their instincts. They can't reason and make wise choices. What's our excuse? Kind of makes you want to crawl into a shell.

Thoughts On Thursdays

Tonight we will have our first Thursday evening at home since February. Why? Because we've had our play rehearsals every Thursday night since the first Thursday in March. As much as I'm looking forward to having a nice, quiet, and undemanding evening tonight, I already miss our rehearsals. It's a lot of hard work, but when you get to be with people you love and enjoy being with, and when you're sharing a mission that you all are very passionate about, it's a joy not a burden. In fact, everything about our musical production is a living illustration of our church Purpose and Steps. Our Purpose is "Helping people develop a deeper relationship with Jesus," and the play does that on multiple levels. We do it to share a message from the Bible and touch people in ways that only a musical can. We introduce hundreds to the Lord's work in this place, and invite them to see how much we love one another and are working together to glorify Him. The process of working together builds loving relationships between all the cast and crew and give us all a sense of accomplishment and shared experiences that bond us even more.
Our Steps of spiritual growth are clearly seen too. People Connect with one another. Many times it is people connecting for the first time even though they've been in the same building together for years. And, as mentioned, we grow in love for one another as we get to know and appreciate each other more. Through our labors, laughs, and evening ending devotional time, we have a special bond that truly makes us Care deeply for one another, and thus, become very Committed to our task.
Connecting, Caring, and Committing, are really just steps to relationship building - whether it's with one another, or with God. If the church is not helping that to happen, it's not functioning as God intended for it to function. Putting together a musical performance about the story of Esther is just one tool to help those involved draw closer to Jesus. I am thankful that we have it - and it works.

Random Pictures

The Odd Couple, or as we know them - Art & Leonard, do their Bigthana & Teresh song that made their trip to the hangman seem hilarious. By the way, they won the Best Duet Award for the play at the cast party.

Little Miss Ashlyn waiting her turn to run through the yard sprinkler. She was smart enough to not go near it while the boys were running through it. It's a trust thing.

This is a picture I took while we watched the bigger grand kids play in the sprinkler. Deborah is holding her nephew, our grandson, Curtis, who has really turned into quite a sweet & polite little fellow - not to mention handsome.

What can I say? With a face like that, how could you not give Daniel anything he asked for?

Just another day at the C of C - NOT! This was my rendition of Bad Bad Haman Brown that I sang with the chorus as part of the play. Probably won't do that again...but it was fun.

This is a picture that my sister Becky took of us at Union Station. It was one of the places we took her the week after the play. I can't believe that I don't have a picture of her, but like I said, Donna and I were both so busy that we both forgot to take lots of pictures we meant to take.

Deacon Root

What are deacons? Have you ever wondered what God's intent was in having a "special group" of people in his church as deacons? Did he intend on them being appointed to an "office"? Were they supposed to have authority and power as spiritual leaders in the church? Did he intend on 1 Timothy 3 to be a clear list of qualifications for the job, with some very legal requirements about their marriage history, the character of their wife, and well behaved children (who, as you remember, don't have to be old enough to be Christians like elders kids)?
Could it be that the simple word "deacon," which is the Greek word for servant, was just a simple way of referring to Christians who had specific responsibilities, and Paul was just trying to make sure that Timothy didn't put an inexperienced and unproven person in charge of something important? I mean, it's never capitalized, it's not a name or position, it's not in the Titus 1 leadership passage, - it's a servant! Which Christians are exempt from that description? Is 1 Timothy 3 really a list of required qualifications for us to argue about, divide over, and strain through a legal sifter, or was Paul just trying to say, use people who have a proven track record and "served well"? And why does that word "deaconesses," which really is the better translation of "their wives" (vs.11), frighten everyone so much? We're just talking about servants - right? We all know who the best "servants" in the church are anyway - right? Oh yes, but we've been told it's a "leadership" position, so he couldn't possibly have been talking about women deacons - right? Wrong.
I think we've had so many years of assuming "Deacon" with a capital "D" that we can't see the simplicity of what the Holy Spirit is saying. If we'd stop trying to force a pattern from everything we read, we might see that Paul was just saying, "Tim, use some wisdom, and don't give people responsibilities that they aren't ready for." I don't think for minute that Paul was setting up an "office" in the church for "special" servants, or creating a worldly hierarchy of authority, or saying that a church isn't a church if it doesn't have "Deacons". Jesus was a deacon/servant, but for him it meant that he humbled himself to the point of dying on a cross. I think we're all deacons - or at least we should be!

Family and Show Time

With the play in full swing and all our family in town - we had a full week. The crowds for each of the four nights of the play were wonderful. I couldn't get an accurate count, but it was well over the 2000 mark again for the four nights. And the cast did an awesome job. The results of five years of experience together, and the fact that I wrote the play to fit our talents and stage peculiarities made for, what I think was, the best play we've done. Still, the best part is getting to be with family.

These are pictures that Elizabeth sent to us. Donna and I both had our cameras with us, but didn't have time to take any or many, pictures. The top picture is us with the bigger grand children and the one below that was taken Saturday night with all four Milom grand children. One of the real highlights of the week was the surprise arrival of Jonathan and Holly late Friday night. They helped me keep make it a very special surprise for Donna and they were here to see our Saturday night show, and then they flew back to NY Sunday evening. It was so great to see them and spend a little time together. We don't get to do that very much because of their hectic career demands. It's only the second time they've been to St. Louis to visit us in five and a half years. For a short while, late Friday night, the entire family got to sit and visit for a few minutes. Pat and Deborah and their three boys had to leave early the next morning to get back to Dallas so Pat could preach on Sunday morning. We are glad for whatever time together God gives us.

It was a great time with family and a wonderful experience with each of the four nights of the play. Maybe I'll share more about that later. We have the cast party and watching the rough cut of the video on Thursday. God is good!

Busy But Fun!

Backyard sprinkler time!

The three big boys are enjoying Nana pancakes on the porch.

Dress rehearsal for the play last night. Everyone did a super job. It's going to be great tonight!
The next to last song in the show. I love the words in Fearless For You. It needs to be listened to by every church family. Hope you get to see the play. I think it's one of our best.
Probably won't do another blog for a few days. KINDA BUSY AROUND HERE!

Righteous Reading?

I'd love to show everyone pictures of all my family spread out all over our new porch enjoying it immensely, but - enough about our porch. Tonight is our last rehearsal for this year's musical Fearless: The Story of Esther. Tomorrow night is dress rehearsal, but it's a total show because we won't be stopping to correct anything or give Directorial changes, and there will be a small audience of those who can't be here for a show, or will be working as ushers, greeters, or parking helpers. So it's really more a performance than a rehearsal. And, we've got family coming and going all this week. All that to say - it's a busy week and I probably won't be blogging a lot. Maybe I'll get a few pictures up of dress rehearsal on Thursday morning. We'll see.
I did want to share one observation from this past Sunday's lesson. Mark 7 has always been an important passage to me. I've always loved the strong language of Jesus as he pointed out to the Pharisees that they were hypocrites, vain worshippers, heartless legalists, and essentially doing more harm to God's plan than helping it. It's a great passage to use to hammer traditionalism, legalism, and several others "isms" that should put the fear of God in us all - since they disappoint God. But, when you really look at the chapter through the lens of God, through the eyes of Jesus, and ask "What was it that they did that really disappointed God and Jesus?"- you see more than just good tradition bashing material. The real problem was the disconnecting of their hearts from God. What really disappointed Jesus was something that each of us need to be diligent to avoid. What saddens God is seeing his people REPLACE A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD FOR A RELIGION ABOUT GOD.
The Bible is a different book when you read it looking for what God has done, and is still doing, to bring about a relationship with man. We can never correctly understand it or interpret it if we don't read it under God's spotlight.

Life's A Picnic

I know family and friends have been losing sleep wondering how our new porch is doing. Well, be at peace. You can see the few things we've done to make it a great place to sit and enjoy our quiet "outback" and get ready for all our family to visit this week. What you can't see, at least well, is the nice sealant that I put over all of it this past Monday. It turned the wood a little darker, but it looks nice. It's especially nice to see water beaded up on it this morning after last nights shower.

Just a little closer look at my latest project. We bought the picnic table at Lowes and I put it together Tuesday afternoon. Of course, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, but it still wasn't too difficult. I had to re-drill some holes that were "pre-drilled" but didn't line up. It's a really solid table that I know everyone will enjoy using - especially all the grand kids. Notice the cute indoor/outdoor rug we got to put under it. Gives it a little more color and matches the flowers. I expect to have my own show in HGTV soon. "If you build it they will come" - grand kids that is. Isn't that in scripture somewhere? I guess, in principle, it's part of the Noah story.

What's In A Name...

I'm not sure what to call'em anymore. I used to refer to them as worship wars, but the assembly is not any more worship than any other act of obedience that glorifies God. It's hard to find an alliterative word to go with assembly - at least ones that won't offend somebody. Since time together was intended to be used for giving and encouraging one another, I could call it Giving Grumbles, but that's just too ironic, not to mention it's a spiritual oxymoron. The reason folks fuss and fume about the assembly isn't because they have a passion for giving, it's because of a tradition of receiving. Threaten that expectation and you're in for the fight of your life. So how about calling them RECEIVING RIFTS? Okay, it doesn't really sing as an alliterative title, but unfortunately it is an accurate description.
We are blessed to be part of a church family that has very few Receiving Rifts. Oh, we have the occasional wish for certain types of songs and there was that couple that got upset because we used a video clip that had instrumental music in it. I tried to get the word out that the "opening prayer" that day was really the "closing prayer" so any use of instrumental music was technically "scriptural," but I forgot to say that upfront. We don't have much fussing here, and for that I am soooo grateful. Even more, I love the spirit of giving that just about everyone seems to bring to the assembly. Maybe my weekly mantra, "If what you're doing this morning isn't giving, then what you're doing isn't worship" has really caught on.
Anyway, what started me on this blog was my reminiscing about the most memorable Receiving Rifts I've experienced over the years. Here are a few:
* NO - we can't replace our pews with stackable chairs. "Pews are more comfortable."
* "If we cancel our evening worship to watch the Redskins play in the Super Bowl, we will be selling out to the world."
* "Telling us to stand and greet the people around us is unscriptural."
* "If you take the Lord's Table out, I'm out of here."
* "You can serve communion from the back if you leave one set of the trays up front for people who need that to focus on."
* "Why did you remove the pulpit?" (Esp. huge in TX and TN)
* "Can a bell choir be used during a wedding?"
* "You can't sing songs during the communion because that is superimposing one act of worship on another, and that's unscriptural."
* "Singing during the Lord's Supper keeps me from thinking about Jesus." (Old Rugged Cross will do that!)

In Or Out? Too Much Or Too Little?

All the church growth experts say the same thing, and I hear it echoed by dedicated and passionate brethren across the country. In fact, they've all been saying it for more years than I can remember. It usually goes something like this: "What's wrong with the church is that we are too inwardly focused. We need to be more outwardly focused." If you're not up on church jargon, no, they are not talking about belly-buttons, though they like to jokingly add that we suffer from too much "navel watching" (a symptom of being inwardly focused). I understand the concern. We'll never be guilty of too much evangelism or too much caring for the hungry and homeless. Yes, we have ministries for everything and still seem to be doing less and less missions and benevolence. Of course, when would we be doing enough or even too much?

I don't know what everyone is thinking when they see the church being "too inwardly focused" but isn't it a fact that church folks have been gradually whittling away at time dedicated to being together? Do we really have too much fellowship, too much encouragement, and too much equipping going on? Just exactly when did we reach the goal of loving one another so deeply, so sacrificially, and so obviously that the world would know that we belong to Jesus? If the purpose of church, of spiritual leaders, of teaching and admonishing one another is, as Paul said in Ephesians 4:11-16, to build "unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" - when did we do that? Did I miss something here?

If we are "too inwardly focused" its the wrong kind of inward focus. The inward focus that has failed to build members who "grow up into him who is the Head" is not the kind the family of God was called to have. When inward focus comes from institutional, traditional, and worldly history -it's "too much" before it even starts. When the inward focus is about building spiritual relationships, growing in love, and helping one another develop a deeper relationship with Jesus - there is no such thing as "too much". In fact, the biggest problem facing the future of the family of God is people who are so "outwardly focused" they don't want or need a church family. Go figure.

Sundays

Ten Things I REALLY Love About Sunday
1. Being used by God
2. People taking notes, nodding their heads and saying "AMEN!"
3. Giving hugs, compliments, and smiles
4. Songs that speak to the heart
5. George praying for me every Sunday morning
6. Seeing Shepherds praying with people
7. The joyful noise of loving one another
8. Remembering a real body hung on that cross, and real blood was shed
9. Members and guests who say, "You made me think."
10. Knowing my loved ones, far away, are giving to others and growing in Christ

Some Favorite People

I took this picture on Mother's Day, last Sunday, with Donna's cell phone camera. Wow! What a looker! Did you notice the nice flowers? Someone must really love her a great deal! She's always been one of the greatest moms in the world, and now she's the world's greatest Nana too.

Yesterday, as we've done every year for five years, we sang a couple of our songs from this years musical for our church family, which this year is Fearless: The Story of Esther. I like to do this to get everyone in the family excited about what we've been working on for nearly three months now, and also to help motive everyone to hand out our promotional door hangers. Word of mouth, tickets, and door hangers, are how we promote the play, and it's worked pretty well so far.

I am really proud of how well the cast and crew are doing. We sang two of the praise songs from the play. This one is our closing song, which as you can see, requires some coordinated clapping. You'd be surprise how hard it can be too get fifty plus people to clap together - at the right time. They're great! It has been a wonderful year and I'm excited about seeing it all come together as we come down to the last two weeks. Wow! Last two weeks? OKAY - it's officially panic time!

Mommy, Look What I Brought You!

Parenting is for people mature enough to see tomorrow. That was a sub-point I made in Sunday's lesson. Since the context was about recognizing the long-term consequences of what we do, I kept it focused on the future. If I were to adjust it so it could be a stand-alone proverb - or as some say a Rootism, I would add something to make it more timelessly applicable. Parenting is for people who can treasure today, but are mature enough to see tomorrow.
Herodias, Herod's grudge-holding wife, used her daughter to get her revenge on John, but she also robbed her daughter of, what could have been, half of Herod's Kingdom! Unfortunately, many parents use their children for their own selfish purposes, and many rob their children of the nurturing they need to grow up into the giving, self-controlled, and thoughtful people who truly enjoy life and bless others.
I've said it many times, but since I used it again last Sunday, I want to mention it again. Who knows how long it will be before I get the chance again?
There are three things every child needs:
1. Unquestionable love (We love you no matter what!)
2. Clear directions (These are our values as a family - who we are!)
3. Consistent discipline (Clear boundaries, clear expectations, and no exceptions) - remember, parental discipline (teaching/guiding) leads to and is replaced by self-discipline. If the first doesn't happen, the second won't either. And tomorrow - the child/adult will suffer.
May your children bring you more than a trophy of bitterness on a platter.

The Why of Why!

The bigger the tragedy in life, the more we ask the question "Why?". We want things to make sense, to be deserved, justified, and explainable, but most of the time there is no clear answer to that three letter question. I would guess that it's the most asked question God hears from mankind. Even people who haven't talked to him, thanked him for anything, or even remotely recognized his presence, throw the question at God as more of an accusation than something they expect to have answered.
This past Sunday I addressed the horrible execution of John the Baptist and tried to answer the question "Why did it happen?" The easy part of the answer is found in the biblical record. John was killed because of 1) A weak, guilt-ridden King; 2) A self-centered mother; and 3) A misguided child. (Not the happiest of Mother's Day lessons to preach.) But then I concluded with the toughest part of the "Why?" by asking "Why didn't God intervene?" That's really the question isn't it? I mean, when a loved one dies from cancer, heart attack, or some terrible accident - we know the what, how, and why. What we really challenge God with is why he didn't step in, make an exception for us, and stop it!
I didn't offer an answer, but gave six questions to ask ourselves when we struggle to understand why God didn't intervene to save his servant John.
1. Why should he? (Who do we think we are to make such demands on God?)
2. How do you know he hadn't intervened many times already?
3. What was God thinking? (If you know - you're wrong!)
4. Why don't we understand that we must all die? (Like John, Jesus, Peter, etc. etc.)
5. Why blame God for man's evil treatment of man? (People have been doing that from the Crusades to the Holocaust.)
6. Do you think that John feels cheated? (I doubt he missed his meal of locust & honey,)
The real question "WHY" is why do we ignore God's love? And, why do we ignore eternity? If we didn't, we wouldn't be asking him "WHY".

I'm A Swinging Kinda Guy!

I wasn't going to do another blog this week, but I had a thought last evening that I didn't want to forget to share. I'd just finished mowing the lawn and I sat on our back porch swing to cool of and enjoy a cold bottle of water. It was overcast and windy, but for some reason the scene before me struck me as spectacular. Our pond was sparkling with shimmering ripples as the wind swept across it's surface. The water was a deep deep green and the grass all around the pond was like a field of emeralds. A half dozen ducks paddled around out in the middle of the pond looking like a bunch of children enjoying what the wind was doing to the water. Higher up from the pond, the huge pine tree limbs were waving their tribute to God's daily work of art - a tapestry I felt sure He put together just for me.
It wasn't the first time that this thought crossed my mind, but I couldn't help but be amazed, not only at God's artistry, but that he placed in our minds the ability to see and appreciate the beauty of this world He created and gave to us. Even in David's Psalm 8 praise of God's creation he didn't mention the blessing of some how knowing what you're looking at is beautiful. What does that tell us about our God that He put something like that in our DNA? Doesn't it peak your interest in Him as you realize it's part of being made in His image? While our "cousin" primates may have ninety-eight percent of our DNA, but I've never heard of one being amazed by the spectacular creation that surrounds them.
How wonderful is the ability to appreciate? How amazing is it to be able to stop, smell the roses, but then be in awe of their brilliant color, shape, and structure? How incredible is it that just sitting and looking can make us happy? The best part is knowing our Father made us that way.
While it opens up a whole huge range of things to think and speculate about, at the very least it has to make us realize that heaven was made by the same God. With apologies to my high school English teacher, Miss Smith, who is already there, WE AIN'T SEEN NOTHIN' YET!

My God And I

One of the most profound spiritual discoveries of my spiritual journey has been the realization that God is relational. Just pull out your concordance or click into Biblegateway.com and do a search of "God is ____" and see what pops up. Then study every description on the list about God and ask yourself, "What do they all have in common?" Every description about God involves some element of his loving nature that deals with his desire to be in relationship with man. Everything that God does is driven by that purpose. He created us to have relationships, like the Father, Son, and Spirit have, and through our physical relationships learn and see the need for a spiritual relationship with him. Like I've said many times lately, God is the most purpose driven being in existence. We can't possibly understand him and his plan if we don't understand that our Holy and loving Father wants us and wants us to want him!
Among the many things that this has seriously impacted in my life is how I interpret the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, every word of every sentence must be interpreted through the eyes of a loving Father who doesn't do or say anything that isn't driven by his purpose. Whatever you read in scripture can only make sense when you see how it contributes to God's plan and purpose. Everything God did, from Adam and Eve, to Moses and the Law, and the sending of Jesus to earth, is all about what he has done to make a relationship with man possible.
This week in our staff meeting we read Hebrews 10 in our devotional time. I thought I really knew Hebrews 10 - after all, it's where my study of worship and the assembly began thirty-something years ago. But when we read, "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way..." - I was overwhelmed - again - by how much God has done so that we could have a close relationship with him. How long did it take and how much did it cost for us to be able to be in the presence of God like only the high priest could do once a year? Wow! Am I reading a new book or what?

The Purpose Quiz

As part of the introduction to my lesson last Sunday, I was trying to make the point that we all REALLY DO have a purpose in life, one we are already committed to! The problem is that a deeper relationship with God just may not be part of it, or at least, at the top of the list. How do we know what our purpose is - or what we've MADE our purpose? I came up with five short questions that I called The Purpose Quiz. For this to work or be effective, the answers MUST be quick gut responses, totally honest, and not "church answers." (While at church, we have programed ourselves to always respond in the expected spiritual manner. Hmmm!)
Here is what I used Sunday. Remember - quick, honest, and non-churchy! Give your top/first three answers for each before you move to the next one!

1. I worry most about... (top three?)

2. If I could afford it, I would... (top three?)

3. I wish I had more time to... (top three?)

4. In the next six months, I hope to... (top three?)

5. When I die, I want my family and friends to know that I am the proudest or most thankful about... (top three?)

How we answer these five questions will tell us what we have made our purpose in life. What we've done and what we plan to do is our purpose - what drives us - what's most important to us. Our answers tell us what we think about, spend our money on, spend our time doing, what our plans our, and what we think our legacy will be. See any themes? What kind of things tend to rise to the top of each list?
There is a good chance that most of what we care about is important to God too. The real question is - where does our relationship with God fit in to all this? Jesus put it into perspective for us when He said, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" (Matthew 16:26) Maybe another way to put it could be, "What good is a purpose in life that doesn't help you live with God for eternity?"

Rehearsals and Nesting

While we began rehearsals for this year's musical Fearless: The Story of Esther the first week of March, we were all on stage for the first time this past Thursday. This year's musical has 24 songs being sung by the chorus, the nobles, the maids, and some individuals, and this week we put them all together for the first time. It went really well, but it's still frightening to think that we have to pull it ALL together in just over four weeks. Esther was a lot more complicated to turn into a musical than you'd think. Still, I'm very proud of how well everyone is doing and how incredible all the music is coming along. These are some of my favorite praise songs that we've ever used. Hope you get to see it.

Both of these pics are of the closing two songs. You can't tell it now, especially with so many scripts in hand & on the floor, but the right half of the group are the Hebrew people and the left are the court of Xerxes. Costumes will help - I hope.

While I won the bird battle on the back porch, this dove won with a nest on the edge of our brick wall just to the left of our garage door. Even with us going in and out on foot and in cars, or when I mow the lawn, she doesn't budge. She must be sitting on eggs. Notice the little bit of decoration she has added to the color of our bricks.